Elbe Estuary

Germany

Description of the Demonstrator

The river system of Dove and Gose Elbe, Germany, located in the southeastern part of the City of Hamburg, formerly part of the inland delta of the Elbe river with marsh characteristics, is nowadays protected by flood protection measures from the tide influenced Elbe estuary.

This river system is a part of the complex drainage system of the area Vier- und Marschlande, which also includes the river Bille and the surface waters of Schleusengraben as well as the Old and New Brookwetterung (Drainagesystem) in addition to the Dove and Gose Elbe catchment areas.

The two main rivers of the system – Dove and Gose Elbe – are branches of the Elbe River that have been hydraulically decoupled from Elbe River by dikes and sluices. In order to regulate the water levels within the drainage area, a highly complex monitoring and control system consisting of three main rivers, other smaller rivers, numerous ditches, pumps and water management facilities, has been developed over time.

Implementation

The main goal of the demonstration activities is the reactivation of the storage capacity of the rivers Bille, Dove and Gose Elbe, their tributaries and trenches (such as, Brookwetterung, Curslack) and their flood plains in the area of 110 km2, to create more retention volume for water during flooding. At the same time necessary stable water levels in the rivers can be provided during droughts.
The functional NBS components will be (natural) floodplains and (natural) storages.
The (improved) Bille, Dove and Gose Elbe monitoring and control system will focus on:

The conversion of grey infrastructure into hybrid solutions

The expansion of the existing linear and disciplinary approach into a holistic approach

Nature based restoration of landscape to manage floods and droughts utilising innovative controlling and operation of the water volume in the Bille and Dove/Gose Elbe river system.
Upscaling possible within the Northern EU and beyond.

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